On the 22nd July 2013 officers stopped a silver BMW driven by Gentjan Mataj on the North Circular near the Waterworks roundabout.

Nertil Curi was his passenger and both men were arrested. A painstaking search with a sniffer dog located seven kilos of cocaine with a street value of £1.6 million in a hidden compartment.

The compartment could only be opened by flicking a switch which was concealed in the centre armrest of the rear passenger seat.

Hidden compartment Credit: Metropolitan Police

The police then searched a property in Linkside Gardens where they arrested Briket Mataj. A search of the building uncovered a hydraulic cocaine press, a money counting machine and cash.

The hydraulic cocaine press Credit: Metropolitan Police

A search of Brikel Mataj uncovered keys to a Ford Focus. In the cast was a carrier bag containing £15,980 in cash and cannabis with a street value of £9,000

A search of Nertil Curi uncovered keys to a Mercedes. The car was found parked outside his home address and in the boot was a plastic bag stuffed with £50 notes worth £40,000.

Searches of Nertil Curi's home uncovered a further £3,000 and €1,435

A search of another property on Jutland Road and recovered more cocaine was a street value of £200,000

There is no doubt that we uncovered a highly sophisticated crime network involved in the distribution of drugs and money-laundering on a large scale.This investigation prevented £1.6 million-worth of a harmful Class A drug making it onto the streets of London.